Flight International – 6 August 2019

DEFENCE

fiightglobal.com 6-12 August 2019 | Flight International | 15

New-look ETPS

powers ahead

for UK

Defence P

First stage of the study involves adapting an EJ200 turbofan engine

Eurofighter

In-service assets provide UK with key armed surveillance capability

Crown Copyright

technology craig hoyle london

R-R accelerates hypersonic propulsion research

A

Rolls-Royce-led team is to

conduct a two-year study into

hypersonic engine propulsion for

the UK Ministry of Defence, with

the technology demonstration

linked to its Project Tempest future

combat air system activity.

Supported by a £10 million

($12.2 million) funding alloca-

tion, the work will also involve

technology partners BAE Sys-

tems and Reaction Engines.

Speaking at the Royal Interna-

tional Air Tattoo on 19 July, R-R

chief engineer for defence future

programmes Conrad Banks said

phase one work will involve

adapting a Eurojet EJ200 turbofan

to test Reaction Engines’ heat ex-

changer technology, in a bid to

reduce inlet temperature.

“If you can cool the intake air

down, suddenly you can expand

the flight envelope on your gas

turbine, and it introduces some

exciting supersonic and hyper-

sonic applications,” Banks says.

Pointing to an HTX experiment

conducted earlier this year in Col-

orado, USA, Reaction Engines

says it has already demonstrated

during ground-based testing the

ability to cool a 400°C (750°F) inlet

temperature – the equivalent of

flight conditions at Mach 3. Using

its precooler technology, the com-

pany’s goal is to take a 1,000°C

inlet temperature on its SABRE

engine design for a reusable space-

plane to -150°C within 1/20s.

Using an adapted EJ200, R-R

and its partners will assess the

demonstrated drop in temperature,

“and see how that affects the per-

formance of the engine”, Banks

says. “That will give us the tech-

nology to be confident to predict

and develop future systems.” ■

T

he UK is planning to achieve

a seamless transition in its

delivery of unmanned surveil-

lance services from the General

Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Predator to the company’s more

capable Protector RG1 by 2024,

with flight testing of the new

model now gathering pace.

General Atomics says a first

delivery from a 16-aircraft order

of Protectors for the UK Royal Air

Force (RAF) will be made “in the

early 2020s”. Wing Commander

Judith Graham, the service’s pro-

gramme manager for the Reaper

and Protector, says its current as-

sets are scheduled to leave opera-

tional use around 2024.

“Reaper is an extraordinarily

valuable capability for the UK

government – we don’t want a ca-

pability gap,” she notes.

A phased drawdown of the

Reaper force will be managed as

the replacement system comes

online. This will involve ending

the UK’s long-term use of ground-

control station (GCS) infrastruc-

ture for the current type at the US

Air Force’s Creech AFB in Ne-

vada. The UK has ordered seven

GCS to support operations with

the Protector fleet from RAF

Waddington in Lincolnshire.

Graham says the service ex-

pects to secure approval from the

UK Civil Aviation Authority to

begin training flights from Wad-

dington in the first half of 2024.

General Atomics president

Dave Alexander points to the Pro-

tector’s increased 5,670kg

(12,500lb) gross take-off weight,

2,720kg internal fuel capacity,

45% greater wing area and 3,500ft

(1,070m) take-off performance

as key updates. With civil-

certificated flight-control soft-

ware, lightning protection and all-

weather capability, the new type

also features an automatic take-off

and landing function, and has an

airframe design life of 40,000h.

Two prototypes are already

being used in the USA. “The first

[production-] conforming aircraft

is about ready to fly, and a fourth

will be ready early in the first

quarter of 2020,” Alexander said

at the Royal International Air

Tattoo, where the company dis-

played its new GCS for the

Protector. This has positions for a

pilot, sensor operator and a mis-

sion intelligence co-ordinator

and uses an adapted version of

Collins Aerospace’s Pro Line

Fusion avionics suite.

The Protector RG1 should be

armed with MBDA’s Brimstone 3

air-to-surface missile and Ray-

theon UK Paveway IV precision-

guided bomb, and carry a General

Atomics Lynx synthetic aperture

radar. Sense and avoid technolo-

gy is also being installed to

enable routine integration within

civilian airspace.

“Now it’s better than having

someone in the cockpit,” Alexan-

der notes. ■

unmanned systems craig hoyle london

raF reveals its reaper transition plan

Phased introduction will see 16 Protector RG1s succeeding current type by 2024, with test programme gathering pace

FIN_060819_014-015.indd 15 01/08/2019 12: